I have had a few queries to the constituency office about the Government’s new measures to help mortgage holders.
Some people were concerned that they might lose their tracker mortgage if they availed of a three-month holiday for mortgage payments.
The Department of Finance has stated that the Code of Conduct for mortage holders with financial difficulties for their primary residence applies.
Under Provision 41 of the code, the lender must not require a borrower to change from a tracker mortgage to another mortgage type as part of an alternative repayment arrangement, such as a a “payment holiday” forebearance measure put in place arising from the COVID-19 virus or any other genuine cause for repayment difficulty.
Another query was whether the agreement reached with the main bank lenders applied to mortgages sold to vulture funds.
The response from the Department of Finance was that Credit Service Firms and non-bank lenders have held initial discussions with the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.
Both the Credit Service Firms and non-bank lenders have issues which need to be addressed with the Central Bank of Ireland but both are committed to working with the Government and industry to provide the flexibility that people need at this time.